Posted on 05/30/2022 8:12:40 AM PDT by TigerClaws
EL PASO – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso, the Texas Department of Public Safety and numerous other federal, state and local agencies located and recovered 70 missing children as a part of a three-week operation in West Texas.
“Operation Lost Souls” ran from the end of April through mid-May in El Paso, Midland and Ector and Tom Green counties. The missing youth, many of them runaways, ranged in age from 10 to 17. The children recovered included victims of sex trafficking, and physical and sexual abuse. The majority of the children were located in West Texas, but some were located in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex as well as the state of Colorado and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The agencies provided victim services and counseling to the recovered children and their families.
“Operation Lost Souls exemplifies Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crimes of victimization. In this case, we are looking out for our children – our community’s most precious resource,” said HSI El Paso Deputy Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho. “HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover and help missing children heal, while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for these heinous crimes and brought to justice.”
Results of the operation were release during a news conference on May 25, which coincided with National Missing Children’s Day.
“At the Department of Public Safety, teamwork is one of our core values,” said DPS Major Matthew Mull. “We are grateful for all of our law enforcement partners who participated in this operation and who work around-the-clock every day to protect our communities, including our youth.”
The multi-agency operation produced additional information and leads that HSI is investigating.
“You have individuals who due to the pandemic have been unable to go see their friends or travel. When you feel secluded at home, not able to go out and about, they meet people online and go meet with these individuals,” said Taekuk Cho, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso. “It could be a dating site, social media sites such as Tik Tok, Tinder, Snapchat […] They meet these individuals not knowing they are trying to bring harm to them.”
Assisting agencies included the following: HSI Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Attache Office, West Texas Anti-Gang Center, Texas Highway Patrol, El Paso Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, El Paso County Constables, Socorro (Texas) Police Department (SPD), Department of Family and Protective Services, El Paso Independent School District Police Department, Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission, and the Juvenile Probation Department.
These agencies also assisted: San Angelo (Texas) Police Department, Tom Green (Texas) County Sheriff’s Office, Odessa (Texas) Police Department, Ector (Texas) County Sheriff’s Office, Ector County Independent School District Police Department, Midland (Texas) County Sheriff’s Office, Midland County Independent School District, Midland Juvenile Probation Department, Advocacy Center for Children of El Paso, Paseo Del Norte Center of Hope, the El Paso Center for Children, Midland Rape Crisis and Children’s Advocacy Center, Harmony Home Children’s Advocacy Center, Midland Memorial Hospital SANE Nurses, and Medical Center Hospital SANE Nurses,
If you have information about a human trafficking victim, information about this type of criminal activity, please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.
The missing youth, many of them runaways, ranged in age from 10 to 17.
If the truth be known the vast majority are most likely runaways.
the vast majority are most likely runawaysStarted as runaways, anyway. Runaways make easy victims.
Do you have a reference for that "truth"? The El Paso/Juarez area is one of the most violent areas in the world (https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/juarez/2022/03/17/juarez-mexico-ranked-10-most-dangerous-violent-cities-world-2021/7036545001/) so it is very possible that none of these victims did anything "wrong". Unless you would like to back up that assertion, you ought to refrain from this kind of "blame the victim" allegation you are making here. Besmirching these young rape victims on a public forum is a despicable thing to do.
How many were brought into the country illegally?
Send all these missing children directly to the White House.
Joe Biden is directly responsible for them, let him deal with them.
Just be sure to keep the little girls away from his groping hands.
The reference is in the story published. Not the poster’s assertion.
snip
“Operation Lost Souls” ran from the end of April through mid-May in El Paso, Midland and Ector and Tom Green counties. The missing youth, many of them runaways, ranged in age from 10 to 17. The children recovered included victims of sex trafficking, and physical and sexual abuse. The majority of the children were located in West Texas, but some were located in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex as well as the state of Colorado and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The agencies provided victim services and counseling to the recovered children and their families.
end snip
Didn’t read the article did you?
Joe Biden. Number one child trafficker in American history. Keep that border open.
33 years in Law enforcement tells me most start out as runaways.
Most others are custody disputes.
Very few are stranger abductions. Yes they happen and they make the news.
by “children” I think they mean mostly all girls...
I don’t think the commenter was besmirching the victims. Many runaways come from abusive homes, foster care, abusive step dad or boyfriend. They run away seeking to get away from the abuse, then often fall victim of traffickers because they don’t know how devious these people are. That is just a fact, not anything against them, they are innocent victims of this horror!
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